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Chuck Owen: Renderings
by Angelo Leonardi
Nato dalla collaborazione tra la WDR Big Band e Chuck Owen, Renderings conferma quest'ultimo ai vertici dell'orchestrazione mainstream contemporanea e l'orchestra tedesca l'autorevole e avvincente ensemble che sappiamo. L'idea del progetto nasce quando la splendida sassofonista della big band, Karolina Strassmayer, ha chiesto a Chuck di arrangiare una sua composizione, stimolando il bandleader a impegnarsi in un ampio lavoro con l'orchestra di Colonia. Impegni personali e circostanze varie (tra cui la pandemia) hanno ostacolato il progetto, che ...
read moreMarshall Gilkes and WDR Big Band: Life Songs
by Jack Bowers
Maryland-born trombonist Marshall Gilkes, who spends much of his time working in and around various jazz bases in North America, returns to his “second" home, Cologne, Germany, for Life Songs, his eighth album as leader and third with his former employer, Cologne's world-class WDR Big Band. Gilkes spent the years 2010-13 in the WDR trombone section, shortly before he and the ensemble released the widely praised albums Koln (Alternate Side, 2015) and Always Forward (Alternate Side, 2018). ...
read moreChuck Owen: Renderings
by Pierre Giroux
Renderings by Chuck Owen and The WDR Big Band is a remarkable jazz album that showcases the artist's mastery as a composer, arranger and bandleader. This release stands as a testament to Owen's innovative approach to jazz music blending traditional elements with modern influences to create a unique and captivating sonic experience. The album title is an apt description of the musical approach taken by Owen, as he focuses on the works by other composers along ...
read moreChuck Owen and the WDR Big Band: Renderings
by Jack Bowers
Anyone who uses YouTube to search for contemporary jazz must surely be familiar with Germany's blue-ribbon WDR Big Band, as it is abundantly represented at the site. Bearing that in mind, it may come as no surprise to those seekers (and others) that the WDR's latest recording, on which it is paired with the esteemed Florida-based composer and arranger Chuck Owen, offers another master class in big-band artistry, or how to make even the most arduous charts seem deceptively simple. ...
read moreViento Terral: Tunnel Visionaries
by Dan Bilawsky
Through the release of Eh' Neeky! (Self Produced, 2016), a modern-leaning, multinational Latin jazz collective made its debut. And with this sophomore release from the Cologne-based quintet comes a more formalized identity, a collection of finely-sculpted compositions, and tuneful and percussive improvisations. The strengths of trombonist Andy Hunter and pianist Thomas Böttcher (who evenly split compositional duties), electric bassist Juan Camilo Villa-Robles, conguero Sebastian Nikoll and timbalero Daniel Hahnfeld prove complementary across this eight-song, all-original program. The ...
read moreBob Mintzer: Soundscapes
by Richard J Salvucci
Well, what is your pleasure? Swinging charts? You have them. A tight big band? Yes, that certainly, and more. Terrific soloists? In abundance. A blend of genres that go from straight ahead to Latin to funk? That is all here too. The only thing absent, and all respect to Bob Mintzer, is excitement. To be honest, many contemporary big bands doing studio recordings have a similar issue. The level of musicianship is astronomical, but something is not there. You wonder ...
read moreBob Mintzer & WDR Big Band Cologne: Soundscapes
by Jack Bowers
Saxophonist Bob Mintzer, a New Yorker who left home long ago to see the world, is a professor of Jazz Studies at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music and chief conductor of the world-class WDR Big Band in Cologne, Germany, with whom he has recorded Soundscapes, a luminous showcase for his singular talents as composer, arranger and soloist. As anyone who is familiar with Mintzer--through big-band recordings, his quartet the Yellowjackets or other avenues--clearly understands, he will ...
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